


Dirt, Gunk, and Slug Rifle Rounds

by OryxtheTakenKing



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Blood and Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-23 06:42:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30051489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OryxtheTakenKing/pseuds/OryxtheTakenKing
Summary: Follows the story of a Titan, a cabal gladiator, and their mutual desire to see as much damage done to the hive as possible.
Kudos: 6





	1. Enemy of my Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction. I've just had stuff stewing in my head that I wanted to write.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ardor-4 meets some cabal, and kills some thrall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still figuring out how I want to write things. Gonna use parenthesis before dialogue to indicate who is speaking because I cant be bothered to put any effort into my grammar. Also, the new additions to the chapter are below the line.

Dirt, gunk, and slug rifle rounds. This has been Tav's life for a few weeks now ever since Torobatl fell to the hive. With no home world, their great empress led them all to sol. To seek alliance with humanity. Their empress believed the protectors of sol, the guardians, would be the answer to the cabal's woes. She said that the with the guardians' help, Xivu Arath would know no mercy, that Calus would be brought to justice for his neglect of the cabal empire. Now, if the rumors were true, they seemed to be in all out war with the guardians. Luckily for Tav, she has still not encountered one. She had no idea what she'd do if she did come face to face with one; with what she heard, Guardians seemed to be unstoppable machines of war, their weapons and their light could bring down any beast, and their persistence was endless. She was worried for what the future held, the guardians could be the end of her people, there was still vengeance to bring upon the hive, no home world to retreat to, and-

Her thoughts were cut short as the massive blade of Knight's sword came down on her head, if it wasn't blunt, she'd have been cleaved in two. She shook her head, feeling the many cuts across her body, left by the scrambling clawing waves of thrall, she feels her muscles ache, the throbbing of her head. She swings her cleaver up, cutting through the gut of the knight, she watches it drop dead and then slams the hilt into the skull of a thrall, causing the miserable thing's head to crack and split. She grunts as she falls back to cover, hiding back behind a doorway, incendiary units brush past her, they let loose streams of flame, no longer having to watch out for the larger hive. Tav slumps against the wall, they had been slamming themselves against this hive nest since they first got here. While most went to the EDZ or the Cosmodrome, their Valus, Valus Ma'aulk, decided to take them to some desert hellscape to set up a firebase. There was logic to his decision, their were no eliksni, humans, vex, or vile taken. He hoped this place would make a suitable staging ground out of the vanguards reach, where they could prepare for war without guardian interference. No one wanted this place. It would have been perfect, except for a massive nest of hive under an abandoned city, the lack of water, and food, and the scorching heat, and the general lack of anything useful. It didn't matter though to her, looking down at the many cabal who died trying to clear this nest, she thinks of the millions who died on Torobatl, there was hive here, and she would not leave this desert until they were gone.

Ardor-4 was a titan, an unyielding force, he wielded the power of the sun, and brought the light to the places it seemed to forget about. Right now, he was home. Sprawled out on top a sun soaked rock, feeling the merciless sun beat down upon him, warming his armor, his metallic body, and everything around him. He sits up, stretches his limbs, and looks out to the desert and the ruins of Phoenix. This is where he was resurrected, this is where he meditates, this is where he goes when he needs to escape, this is his home, and it is being violated. He was annoyed when the cabal showed up, and got really pissed when they woke up a whole army of hive underneath Phoenix. He could forgive the cabal, he heard what happened, he felt sorry for them. The hive on the other hand, would receive no such graces. Ardor despised the hive, everything about them was vile, their belief in the sword logic, their chittering, the tunnels and caverns they dig and build their fortresses in. Ardor had fallen in one too many hive pits, saw one too many guardians fall under Crota's sword, and saw one too many guardians, separated from their ghosts. and now his ghost, Tang, finally broke the silence, and the mental sate that Ardor was slowly digging himself into.

(Tang): "So... are we gonna do anything about them?"

(Ardor-4): "Which them, the Hive or the Cabal?"

(Tang): "Well I was thinking we'd kick them both out." His ghost replied.

Ardor loved his Ghost, but thought it was rude of them to be so callous to the Cabal. He understands that the Red War was fucked up, but now they had the pyramids to deal with, and two hive God's that both seem intent on destroying humanity, they would need whatever allies they could get and Tang would need to learn to work with the idea that we could fight alongside the cabal.

(Ardor): "I was thinking we'd let the cabal stay, they hate the hive just as much as we do... the enemy of my enemy after all."

Ardor didn't even have to turn around to know that Tang rolled their singular eye. Even though he disagreed with letting the cabal stay, Tang relented. They didn't like the cabal, but it sure was fun watching them drop missiles from their carrier down onto the hive ships that dared to appear on the surface. Ardor stands up, and after getting down from the rock he shakes off some dust and even a few lizards that were using his armor to bask in the sun. He picks up his slug rifle, an old thing from when the skyburners were still around back in his earliest days as a guardian. Settling the gun on his back, and feeling thoroughly rested, he begins a slow and steady walk towards distant sounds of warfare.

Tav was tired, so very tired. After finishing up at one front she was immediately sent to another. This one was no going well, the Hive were dug in deep, and the fortifications easily rivaled any land tank in the cabal army. knights sent endless volleys of boomer fire, and shriekers made sure any cabal troops that left cover would meet a swift end. This was one of the few moments Tav wished she chose anything other than becoming a gladiator. She loved the feeling of slicing through waves of thrall with her cleaver, but right now she really wished she had a slug rifle. She glanced back the phalanxes behind her in the battle field, she watched with envy as they could shoot rounds up over their shields, keeping them safe from the barrage of void shot from the shrieker while not being completely useless. As she did this though she saw something strange. She couldn't tell what it was. A psion perhaps? She soon realized whatever it was it wasn't a psion. It was moving fast, very fast. Then, she was ripped from her trance when she was blasted by a brave acolyte, and just as the acolyte prepared to fire on her again, it was ripped into pieces as what could have only been a guardian, slammed into it at the speed of a interceptor mid boost. The guardian came to a stop, and it's vehicle soon came in crashing into a pack of thrall, exploding, and killing anything that was unfortunate enough to be near it. Tav cowered before this beast, there before her stood a light bearer, a champion of the light, a pillar against the darkness. She expected to be incinerated by the guardian, instead, it only looked down at her shaking form. It nudged forward the cleaver she didn't realize she dropped, and proceeded to turn the rest of the hive in the area and used the full might of the traveler upon them.

There was no, ash, no scorched chitin, no burned bones. The titan had completely vaporized the hive. Only minutes ago There were hundreds of hive, now, there wasn't even a trace they had been there. What was left were a few cabal bodies, scattered cabal weapons, impact craters, and glass. Tav just stood there. She was transfixed by what just happened. She knew what a guardian could do, she heard of hunters disintegrating enemies with their guns of solar light. But this was different, the heat of this titans hammers melted the area surrounding where they impacted. It left large areas turned smooth and shiny. A large whole in the wall allowed sunshine to beam in, which colliding with the glass made the whole room seem like it was still ablaze. It wasn't until the sounds of phalanxes setting up their shields and psions beginning to charge their rifle that she was broken from her daze. Before them all stood the titan.

* * *

Ardor loved the heat of battle. He loved watching the Hive turn to nothing but smoke. He had arrived at the battle by launching himself from his sparrow, instantly killing an acolyte as he made impact, and his hammers made short work of the rest of them. What had been a grueling battle of attrition for the cabal was nothing for ardor, and now he was standing, surrounded by glass made from the impact of his light, he stared at cabal he flew past. No one moved. Ardor was still, because he was waiting to see if they would fire, and the cabal were still because they feared to face the same fate as the hive that were just laid low. A whole minute of silence passes. Finally feeling satisfied they wouldn't make a move against him, Ardor turned to go where the hive had been pouring out from, an abandoned underground mall, built during the height of Phoenix's expansion during the golden age. This place was cool and dark, free from the intense Arizona sun. It made the perfect place for the hive to build their foul nests and conduct their rituals. After walking down a defunct escalator and down an ensuing hall way for a bit. With a flash of light Tang appears next to Ardor. Ardor can feel the stink eye Tang was giving him. Despite not actually having a real eye, Tang was very good at it.

(Tang): "You really just let them live?"

(Ardor-4): "Why kill them, they weren't shooting at me."

(Tang): "They were red legion! They were part of the red war!"

(Ardor-4):"Former red legion! the red legion collapsed with the death of Ghaul and the various would be leaders; those responsible for the red war have already been punished."

Ardor did have a point. Ghaul was killed, Val Ca'uor died on the leviathan, and those psion flayer sisters were ended at the sundial on mercury. Most of the cabal left were just foot soldiers, but still, it annoyed Tang that Ardor seemed to just ignore what happened during the red war. Whenever Tang saw the cabal, They would think back to what happened during the Red War, the feeling of being disconnected from the light, watching both civilians and lightless guardians being slaughtered by the hundreds. They remembers Ardor having to carry them out of the city, them being to weak from the disconnect with the traveler to be able to fly. And he can never unsee the sight of a ghost, weak and lightless, being shot from the sky by a sniper. Despite all the reasons to hate the cabal, Tang wouldn't argue with Ardor over this. It was because of one belief Ardor held close, the belief that anyone and everyone, except the Hive and Vex, were capable of good, all they need was a push in the right direction.

Ardor loved this place. The way the light came in through cracks in the ceiling and the piles of sand and dirt that had been blow in though said crack over the years. It was because of how much he loved this place that he was furious; the place smelled of rot, and hive gunk covered many surfaces. There were even a few thrall eating the random growths on the floor of the hallway he was walking down. His slug rifle made quick work of them. It was so satisfying to Ardor, to feel each round leave the barrel, to watch the slugs curve to hit targets, the sounds of the striking, and the heat they impart. In a quick motion, he slings the weapons onto his back. With no thrall left to kill he continues on down the hall. Somewhere in this place was a hive brood mother, and Ardor was dead set on mounting her head on his wall.

Tav was shocked, the legionaries were shocked, the centurions were shocked. Moments ago a titan stood before them, and just left. All accounts they knew of indicated a guardian never purposely chose to not kill. Never had they heard of a unit encountering a guardian and not suffering casualties from them. Previously Tav had considered Empress Caiatl's plan to ally with the guardians to be foolish, Tav had firmly believed the guardians were impossible to reason with, that they were blood thirsty killers. But now, Tav was no longer certain. This was the first guardian she had seen in person, and they had helped her and her unit. It wasn't that the guardian just ignored them, they specifically targeted the hive, they were careful to not hit any of the cabal in the room, just the hive. And, even if it was really a small gesture, they pushed Tav's cleavers to her. An enemy willing made it easier for her to reach her weapons. This was the opportunity of a life time, if this guardian was willing to work with them, or even just around them, this could make great steps for herself, and the cabal. Tav sheathed her cleavers, brushed of the dust, and began to make her way towards where the guardian was heading, she was not going to waste this.


	2. Meet and Greet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ardor-4 meets Tav, Tav is surprised about how guardians actually are.

Tav had never been to the guardians’ last city. She had never really had any experience with human culture, and right now, she believed that she must have been walking down a sort of human market from the golden age. All the way up and down each side of the walk was store after store. Some held human clothing, others held novelty gifts, some held spices and teas. All of these things were long past their time, the clothes were coated in dust and filled with holes, many of the shelves had been cleared, and many of the stores had been barricaded with the shelves inside. All these various shops got the gears in her head going. She thought about what the last city might be like, she wondered what their food was, what spices were used there, what they used to decorate their streets, what teas they drank there. She wondered about these things and if they were anything like what they supposedly had on Torobatl, she herself never got to visit the former home world of the cabal, she only knew of their ancestral home from the older members of the cabal. Tav was born on a ship and raised on a ship, she was born and raised in battle. Suddenly there was deafening clattering and scraping, *SCRREEEEEEEEEEEEE* *BANG*, Tav spun around to see what was the source of the noise. About two dozen feet away was a thrall with a boot hanging from its mouth, drool dripping down and splatting into the floor. It seemed to have been stuck in one of the shops that was barricaded, the screeching and bang had been produced from the thrall pushing and knocking over one of the shelves blocking it inside. The stupid thing just stood there now. Chewing the boot while seemingly studying Tav. Finally after what seemed to be careful consideration, it spat out the boot and screamed. The thing began to sprint, its feet grinding and slipping on the smooth floor, it was truly pathetic, one of the most dangerous races in the history of all time and this is how they start out life, as these stupid and boney creatures. When the thrall finally managed to get a grip on the flooring it covered the distance easily. Tav didn’t even bother to draw her cleaver, when it got close enough she just simply grabbed it. One hand dug into its chest, the other hand into its leg, and she pulled. The thrall screamed, and then it was torn in half. Tav watched as its papery skin attempted to resist her might to no avail. She watched flesh tear and organs being pulled taught before snapping or disconnecting from one of the halves. She dropped the thing to the floor. Air fled the thrall’s mouth in a final dying breath, with the air came blood and spit and mucus. Tav regarded the corpse with disgust before turning around and continuing down after the guardian.

(Tang): “ARDOR! Don’t we have something to do?” 

Tang asked desperately. Their guardian for the past thirty minutes had been milling around in an old toy shop.

(Tang): “ARDOR PLEASE.”, * _bop it!_ *, “YOU’VE ALREADY SPENT TWENTY MINUTES LOOKING AT GOLDEN AGE BOARD GAMES” * _twist it!_ * “AND NOW YOU’VE BEEN SCREWING WITH THAT THING FOR TEN!’” * _pull i--_ **SNAP*.

(Ardor-4): “Fuck… I pulled too hard.”

Tossing the thing aside, Ardor made his way out of the store, now uninterested in the place because he broke the bop it he found. Now outside the toy store, Ardor had stopped dead in his tracks causing Tang to bump into him.

(Tang): “What's the matterrrr…… oh.”

Ardor was bewildered, right in front of him a cabal gladiator was just... standing. If anything it looked like it was feeling awkward. To be fair, Tav did feel awkward. She had just witnessed a ghost yell at their guardian to put down a toy, and thus Tav was stood there wondering if this guardian was a one off or if this was standard behavior. Ardor, on the other hand, was also feeling awkward, because he was ninety percent sure the gladiator had just witnessed what happened between him and his ghost, he was also confused on why her gaze kept shifting from him, to Tang, then down to the floor. The feeling Ardor had right now reminded him a bit of when he first went to go meet Saint-14, and had stumbled into saint's ship into the middle of a _very_ compromising position with Osiris. He remember going full sprint out of the ship, and towards the opposite side of the tower, he remembers the colorful language Osiris shouted after him and the uncomfortable laugh Saint made. Ardor has still not actually introduced himself to either of the bird orientated old men at the tower, after that Ardor dreads having having to look either of them in the eye. Tav began to shift nervously side to side, the guardian was watching her, seemingly considering killing her for what she witnessed. She was hoping they'd speak first, but it was beginning to seem like she'd need to start the introductions. While she understood the human language it felt quite clunky coming out of her mouth. Her voice was gruff from years spent on a ship stuffy with engine exhaust and recycled air.

(Tav): "Greetings! My name is Tav, I am a gladiator under the command of Valus Ma'aulk, it seems as none of my comrades decided to follow me, I will act as their representative. Our legion is known as the Scorch Walkers. My unit and I are grateful for the support you gave us early when dealing with the hive, I followed after you hoping we could perhaps work together to eliminate the hive here."

(Ardor-4): " All right. My name is Ardor-4 you may call me Ardor this is my ghost Tang he probably doesn't like you, but he doesn't get s say in this matter. Now if you'd kindly forget about what you saw earlier I'd be absolutely delighted to help you kill hive."

Tav had come to the conclusion that this guardian was most likely and outlier, and their behavior was not indicative of other guardian behavior. She shrugged her shoulders, it didn't really matter, she knew what they were capable of. Even if this one was a bit goofy allying with it would be extremely valuable. So wasting no time they pushed recent events and awkward feelings out and walked further down into the nest.


End file.
